NATIONAL JOE DAY
National Joe Day on March 27th encourages everyone to enjoy a cup of joe with all your friends named Joe, Jo, Joey, Joseph, and Josephine. While you’re at it, don’t forget Joette, Jody, Johanna, Jodie, or any other variant of the name Joe. If you didn’t know it, you could create quite a few nicknames from this one name.
#NationalJoeDay
According to the Social Security Administration, Joseph ranked No. 6 from 1893 to 1899 behind John, William, James, George, and Charles. In 1910, it moved to No. 5. From 1911 to 2005, it ranked No. 12 or lower. Famous Joes, Jos, and Jo Anns, populate the world. They fill many roles, too. So their name does not define them. Just check out the variety of hats they wear!
Famous Joes:
- American football player and coach – Joe Montana
- Politician – Jo Ann Emerson
- Comedian, musician, and actor – Joe Pesci
- Politician and lawyer – Joe Biden
- Musician, singer, dancer -Josephine Baker
- Theatrical producer, entrepreneur, film producer – Joseph Gordon
- American football player – Joe Namath
- Opera singer – Dame Josephine Barstow
- Formula one endurance driver – Jo Gartner
- Politician, soldier – Joseph Stalin
- Songwriter, musician, singer – Joey Ramone
- Journalist – Jo Coburn
- Baseball player – Shoeless Joe Jackson
- Olympic medalist, swimmer – Josephine McKim
- American football player – Joe Green
- Actress – Jodie Foster
- Musician – Joe Jonas
- Businesswoman, politician – Jo Ann Davis
- Baseball player, actor – Joe DiMaggio
- Author – Josephine Cox
- Musician – Joe Cocker
- Boxer – Joe Frazier
- Athlete, sprinter – Joanne Cuddihy
- Baseball player – Joe Mauer
- Journalist, author – Josephine Lawrence
- Press Secretary – Jody Powell
- Musician – Joe Walsh
HOW TO OBSERVE NATIONAL JOE DAY
- Honor all people with the name “Joe.”
- For the day, change your name to a name of your choice.
- Everyone changes their name to a version of “Joe” or “Jo” of your choice.
- Read the science fiction novella Call Me Joe by Poul Anderson.
- Another way to celebrate the day is by telling stories about friends and family named Joe.
- Use #NationalJoeDay to post on social media.
NATIONAL JOE DAY HISTORY
National Day Calendar continues to research the origins of this day. In the meantime, you can call us Joe, and we’ll call you Joe, too. It’s a great way to create confusion while avoiding it.
Joe FAQ
Q. What is “Joe” short for?
A. Well, “Joe” or “Jo” can be short for Joseph, Josephine, Jo-Ellen, Josy, Jonah, Josiah, Johannes, and Joel, just to name a few.
Q. Why is coffee called Joe?
A. No one is really sure, but there are several theories. The first one came about in a way similar to the 80s-era economic policy that came to be known as Reaganomics, and the word gerrymander came from Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry. In 1914, Joseph Daniels was appointed Secretary of the Navy by President Woodrow Wilson. Secretary Joe prohibited the use of alcohol aboard ship, and the strongest brew the sailors could drink became coffee. However, since it didn’t become common usage for another decade and a half, linguists point to other reasons for calling coffee “joe.” For example, the island of Java was known for planting coffee. We return to the Navy for further explanation. When combining coffee and chocolate (mocha), the sailors would call the combination a jamoke and then later shortened it to joe.